[Pennsylvania Railroad Engineer’s Reference Book]

An unusual handbook made by an engineer for the Pennsy.

This wonderful assortment of blueprint plans appears to have been compiled by an engineer for the Pennsylvania Railroad during the mid-1930s. Possibly used as a reference while working along the line, the contents offer a fascinating snapshot of railroad operations during the Great Depression. At the time, most of the routes depicted (generally between New York and Washington, D.C.) were undergoing to laborious and expensive process of electrification. The volume is summarized below, in order of appearance.

• A pair of small sheets, each about 9″ x 6″, that show the basic principles of perspective drawing.
• A long (almost 60″) diagrammatic route map of the Pennsylvania Tunnel and Terminal Railroad that connects Manhattan Transfer, N.J. through New York’s Pennsylvania Station to Long Island City.
• Heavily annotated route map showing the area between the Potomac Yard (Washington, D.C.) and the Sunnyside Yard (New York). New and existing infrastructure as of January 1934 is drawn in black ink.
• Folding map that measures 17.25″ x 11.5″ and titled “The Pennsylvania Railroad New York To Washington Electrified Lines Substation Locations.” Dated December 10, 1934 and credited to the Office of the Chief Engineer.
• Standards Of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers – a key sheet outlining standardized symbols used for building electrical equipment.
• “Typical Substation Viewed from Railroad” – Profile view of an electrical substation dated December 15, 1930.
• A small scrap from a blueprint dated February 1935.
• Partial diagram of an electric railway car.
• Single page with handwritten notes, front and back, about safely operating over curves.
• Fold-out sheet outlining the different lettering to be used across Pennsylvania Railroad track and property plans.